Knicks Picks

Alea iacta est, I guess. The Knicks, as the number six seed, will face the third-seeded Celtics in the first round of the N.B.A. playoffs. It’s the Knicks’ first playoff exposure since their sweep at the hands of the pre-Russian Nets, in 2004, a series notable only for some preposterous thugging from the forward Tim Thomas, a man whose head is too small for effective fronting.

What do we have in this Knicks team? Paradox, mostly. An explosive offensive team that walks the ball across half-court. A mostly veteran, serious starting five whose only hope of a defensive stop is a last-second block, such as the one by Amar’e Stoudemire that sealed a win against the Miami Heat on February 27th, in the Knicks signature victory this season.

Mostly, though, we now have Carmelo Anthony. Are we pleased? As with seemingly every move the Knicks have made since signing Eddy Curry, we must conclude, as Zhou Enlai did about the French Revolution, that it’s too soon to say. Is a frontcourt of Anthony and Stoudemire the result of the long-range plan Isiah Thomas put in place in his years as G.M.—a plan that was always a year or so from fruition, mostly a crazed gleam in that madman’s eye? It is not. Was it the ultimate desire of Thomas’s more sober-minded replacement, the neck-braced and walker-bound Donnie Walsh? Closer, but not really.

Stoudemire, Anthony, and, to a lesser extent, Chauncey Billups are Knicks because of the theory that in the N.B.A. you need stars to win a championship. Excellent or great players are not sufficient—wattage is all. The Bulls might disagree. Think about that when the Knicks walk the ball up the court with ten seconds left, trailing by two. Will they move the ball around the perimeter to the open man? Run a pick-and-roll? Or will Anthony hold the ball until two seconds remain, lean in with his left shoulder, push off, and launch a contested three? My money is on the latter. At least once in this series, I will be screaming “No!” as Anthony launches that very shot, and then screaming again when it goes in.